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The emails are notable for their candor about Trump. Powell, who oversaw the State Department during the beginning of George W. Bush's administration, hasn't endorsed Trump and has largely sidestepped questions about his thoughts on the controversial GOP nominee.

Powell also lampooned Trump's proposal that he could win over the African-American population.

"For him to say yesterday that within four years he would have 95% of blacks voting for him is schizo fantasy," Powell wrote, adding, "And (former Fox News chief Roger) Ailes as an adviser won't heal with women."

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Powell pushed back against this publicly, telling People magazine in August that Clinton's people were trying to pin it on him.

He said as much in his email, writing on August 23: "(Clinton) didn't need any advice or ok from me; she was already doing it. I gave her written guidance on why and how I had been doing it."

Clinton appeared on CNN shortly thereafter and told Anderson Cooper that the blame rested with her.

Cheryl Mills, a former staffer for Clinton, forwarded the transcript of Clinton's CNN interview to Powell, a leaked message shows.

He responded to Mills, calling the comments "very nice."

"The only thing I would add is to simply say she had a private account on a public server before becoming SecState and continued to use it when she became SecState. On the other hand this might to lead to questions about the basement," Powell said.

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On August 28, he said that Clinton "could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it. I told her staff three times not to try that gambit."

Wednesday's email leak was not the first time Powell's private thoughts were revealed. In 2013, a hacker known as "Guccifer" infiltrated Powell's email. The Romanian hacker, Marcel Lazar, also managed his way into the digital spaces of some members of the Bush family and Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal.

Lazar was sentenced to 52 months in prison on September 1.

These leaks came from DCleaks on the same day a hacker by the alias "Guccifer 2.0" released more information from the Democratic National Committee. Experts have pointed to Russian state elements as the actors behind the DNC leaks.

Powell, Rice talk Iraq War

An exchange in 2015 showed Powell and his successor, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, critiquing some of their former colleagues in the Bush administration.

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Rice praised Woodward and added: "First, we didn't invade Iraq to bring democracy --- but once we overthrew Saddam (Hussein), we had a view of what should follow. If Don and the Pentagon had done their job ... things might have turned out differently."

Powell criticized "Doug and Paul," presumably Douglas J. Feith and Paul Wolfowitz, for their plan on Iraq and praised his former boss, President George W. Bush.

"43 (Bush, the 43rd president) knew what had to be done," Powell wrote to Rice. "As you say, the boys in the band were brain dead."